Method of and means for unloading hay and grain in barns



(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 1. W. & O. C. MITCHELL.

ANS FOR UNLOADING HAY AND GRAIN IN BARNS. Pa, ented Mar. 13,1883. v

METHOD OF AND MB fly.-

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W. 8: O. O. MITGHELL' METHOD OF AND MEANS OR UNLOAD'ING HAY AND GRAIN INBARNS.

N0. 274,010. Patented Mar. 13,1883.

WITNESSES w INYENTOR:

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UNITED STATES PATENT FFICEO WRAY MITCHELL AND OSCAR O. MITCHELL, 0FRAPIDS, NEW YORK.

METHOD OF AND MEANS FOR UNLOADlNG HAY AND GRAIN iN BARNS.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 274,010, dated March13, 1883.

Application filed September 22, 1882. (No model.)

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that we, WRAY MITCHELL and Os AR G. MITCHELL, both ofRapids, in the county of Niagara and State of New York, have invented anew and Improved Method and Means of Unloading Hay and Grain in Barns,of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Our improved method of unloading hay or grain in barns consists inelevating the rack upon which the hay or grain is loaded from the wagonstanding on the floor of the barn to the height of the main beamsof thebarn, and then shifting the rack, with its load, over the mow andunloading the rack either by hand or by a horse-fork or by dumping. Therack, when unloaded, is then to be shifted back over and" lowered againupon the wagon.

The means of elevating the rack and its load from and of lowering the.rack to the wagon consists of a capstan (or other suitable power) andsuitably-arranged ropes or chains and pulleys, the elevating ends of theropes or chains being adapted to be hooked into the standards of orotherwise attached to the rack.

The means of shifting the rack to and from the unloading position overthe mow consists of trucks running upon tracks supported upon the beamsof the barn, the sections of the tracks immediately over the barn-floorbeing movable, and adapted, by suitable shaft-andlevermechanism, to bemoved in opposite directions, for permitting the passage of the rackbetween them, and for bringing the said sections and the trucks underthe rack for supporting it. y

. The trucks are provided with brakes for preventing the empty trucksfrom moving on the tracks, which brakes will be automatically applied tothe wheels upon lifting the rack from the trucks.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying drawings, forming part ofthisspecification, in which similar letters of reference indicatecorresponding parts in all the figures.

Figure 1 illustrates in sectional elevation our invention attached tothe beams and floor of a barn, the parts being shown in the positionsthey occupy while the rack is being raised andlowered. Fig. 2 is asectional elevation on the line as w of Fig. 1, the rack being shownresting upon the trucks; and Fig. 3 is a sectional plan view taken onthe line y'y of Fig. 1.

A A A represent three of the main beams of the barn, the beams A A beingthe two nearest the barn-floor. 1

On the main beams A A are secured the duplicate tracks B B, which areformed of the side flanges I) b and the cross-plates c.

B B represent the floor-sections of the track,

that rest at their ends upon the beams A A.

These sections are made like the tracks B B, (of the side flanges b band cross-plates c,) and match them at the ends, and these sections Bare adapted to be moved on the beams A A in opposite directions--thatis, away from each other for permitting the wagon-rack D to pass betweenthem, up or:

down, and toward each other for bringing them under the rack forsupporting it on the trucks E E, and for continuing or connecting thetracks B B, so that a continuous track from the sections B B will beformed for moving the rack on the trucks over the mow for unloading.

The trucks E E are formed of thebarsf,

flanged wheels 6 e, and short axles ee, which are journaled in suitablehearings or boxes secured to the upper side of the bars, so that thebars f, when the trucks are in place on the tracks, are adapted to runbetween theflanges of the tracks, as shown, and thus guide the trucksand prevent all danger of their running off from the tracks. One of thetrucks is provided with the plates 6 i, on which the notched plates 2" i(set into the lower edge of one of the bed-pieces d d of the rack D) areadapted to rest, as shown in Fig. 2, for preventing one truck gettingahead of the other in moving the rack along the tracks.

F F represent the elevating ropes or chains, which pass over the pulleysG G at the roof, and are attached to the rope or chain F, which passesover the pulley G, secured to the floor of the barn, and from thencepass around the winding post or capstan H, secured to the barn-floor, orset outside of the barn, as circumstances require or as may be foundmost convenient. FF are provided with hooks or suitable means for readyattachment to and detachment from the standards at d of therack D, whichstandards are formed with the rings or eyes f, for receiving the hooksof the ropes or chains F F.

Upon the beams A A, in front of the sections B B of the track, isjournaled the rockshaft J, which is provided at one end with thecross-piece K, and at the other with'the lever K, which cross-piece andleverextend through and above the shaft, as shown in Figs. 1 and 3. Thecross-piece K and the lever K are connected above the shaft J to thenearest section B of the tracks by the short connectingrods g g, andbelow the shaft J they are connected to the farthest section'B by meansof the long connecting-rods g g, which rods are the same distance belowthe shaft J, where they join the cross-piece and lever, that theconnecting-rods g g are above it, where they join the saidlever andcross-piece, so that upon turning the shaft J, by forcing the leverresent guides secured to the lower side of the sections, near theirends, so as to run against the side faces of the beams A A, for guidingthe sections in their backward and forward movement, and for preventingthem from having any endwise movement.

In using our invention the trucks E E are placed upon the sections B Bof the tracks, and the said sections are moved away from each other tothe position shown in Figs. 1 and 3. The wagomwith its load, is nowdrawn into the barn, and the horses detached from the wagon and attachedto the lever of the capstan. The ropes or chains F F are now to beattached to the standards d at ofthe rack, and the capstan turned untilthe rack and load is elevated at short distance above the sections B Bof the tracks and the trucks E E resting thereon. The lever K isnow tobe forced forward to the position shown in dotted lines in Fig. 1, whichwill move the sections B B toward each other against the stops L L, sothat their ends will come in line with the ends of the rails B B andbring the trucks E E under the ends of the rack. The rack will now belowered upon the trucks and shifted upon are then to be moved away fromeach other by forcing the lever K back to the position shown in fulllines in Fig. 1, and the raekD then lowered by the ropes or chains FFupon the wagon again, as illustrated in full and dotted linesin Fig. 1.

N Nrepresentthebent brake-levers, pivoted to the sides of the bars ff ofthe trucks in such manner that their forward ends are adapted to impingeagainst one of the wheels 6 e of the trucks. The rear ends of the leversrest upon the springs N N, which normally hold the rear ends of thelevers elevated above thelevel of the upper faces of the barsff, and theforward ends applied to the wheels, so that when therack is lowered uponthe trucks the rear ends of the levers will be depressed and forwardends moved back from the wheels by the weight of the rack, and when therackis raised the springs will throw the levers'again in contact withthe wheel, which will hold the trucks in their proper position on thetrack-sections for the next load.

In this manner and by this means it will be seen that the loads of anykind of farm produce may be unloaded and moved away by the labor of oneman and with comparative ease, and that the devices employed are simple,may be handled easily and quickly, and that they occupy but small spacein the barn.

The capstan may be movable, so that it may be located inside or-outsideof the barn, as desired.

Having thus described our invention, what we claim as new, and desire tosecure by'Letters Patent, is-

1. The tracks B B, secured to the beams of the barn, in combination withthe sliding tracksections B B, trucks E E, and means, substantially asdescribed, for elevating and lowering the rack, as and for the purposesset forth.

2. The track-sections B B, adapted to slide in opposite directions uponthe beams A A, in combination with the tracks B B, attached IIO to thebeams of the barn, substantially as and v for the purposes set forth.

3. The tracks B B and sections B B of the track, in combination with therock-shaft J, cross-piece K, lever K, and connecting-rods g g, wherebythe sections may be moved simultaneously in opposite directions,substantially as described.

4.. The truck E, formed of the barf, flanged wheels 6 e, and axles e e,journaled in blocks secured to the upper side of the bar f,substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

5. The combination, with the trackB, formed of the side flanges b b andcross-piece c, of the trucks E, having the bar f suspended undertheaxles to run between the flanges, substantially as and for thepurposes set forth.

6. The barf of the. truck E, provided with the plate 1', in combinationwith the bed-piece d of the rack, provided with the plate 2', substantially as and for the purposes set forth.

mm r e '7. The raclr D, having the standards d d,

provided with the eyes f f, for the attachment thereto of the elevatingropes or chains F F, substantially as described.

8. The trucks E, provided with the brakeleversN and springs N',f0rautomatically holding the trucks in place when the rack is raised offfrom the trucks, as and for the purposes set forth. 1

9. The capstan H, ropes or chains F F F, and pulleys G G G, incombination with the tracks '3' B, movable track sections 18 B, and thetrucks E E, substantially as and for the purposes set forth. a

10. The combination, with the tracks B B and, stops L L, of the movabletrack-sections

